Creating Powerful Passwords
Jan 21, 2010 Communication
PC World just posted a great article on how to, or not to create your passwords. The full article “Hacking Passwords” by David Coursey is definately worth reading. I wanted to share with you just a small section of their tips.
Imperva provides a list of password best practices, created by NASA to help its users protect their rocket science, they include:
- It should contain at least eight characters
- It should contain a mix of four different types of characters – upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters such as !@#$%^&*,;” If there is only one letter or special character, it should not be either the first or last character in the password.
- It should not be a name, a slang word, or any word in the dictionary. It should not include any part of your name or your e-mail address.
Following that advice, of course, means you’ll create a password that will be impossible, unless you try a trick credited to security guru Bruce Schneir: Turn a sentence into a password.
For example, “Now I lay me down to sleep” might become nilmDOWN2s, a 10-character password that won’t be found in any dictionary
Oh and one more tip.. writing down your passwords and taping them to your computer screen… not the best idea…
Thank You for Saying Thank You
Jan 12, 2010 Communication
To those who have said thanks:
Thank you. The other day you took the time to send an email saying how much you enjoyed the service. You stopped me in the parking lot and said how good everything sounded. You sent a message on facebook saying how the service moved you. However it was, you said thanks. Your words of appreciation do mean a lot. Just by taking time to say 2 words you give encouragement and strength that last a long time.
So again.. thanks for taking the time to say “thanks.”
Tags: encouragement, thank you
What I Am Reading-Freebies, Printing Press and Questions
Nov 26, 2009 Communication, Devotions and Thoughts, Media and Technology, What I'm Reading
Thought I would let you in on a few different blogs and articles I have been reading lately-
1. The Internet is Not Your Delivery Boy- From Church Marketing Sucks I learned that the internet is not just the 20th century printing press, but should be so much more. It’s not about informing but connecting…
2. Freebie Friday- Tim Schmoyer from Life In Student Ministry shares different freebies each week. Last weeks was #152: Dallas Theological Seminary Courses on Itunes-
3. Finally David Risley in a guest post from ProBlogger asks the question, “Are You Talking At or To Your Readers” in a recent post. I wonder how many of the questions, and lessons learned, in this post could be applied to churches too?
Tags: blogs, Church, Itunes, Ministry, ProBlogger, Tim Schmoyer
Help Me Save a Life
Nov 15, 2009 Communication, Devotions and Thoughts, Me
For the past two years I have been supporting the “Nothing But Nets” campaign. The campaign raises money to provide mosquito nets that protect from Malaria with the goal of wiping out the disease on the continent of Africa.
Between now and Christmas I want to raise enough money to buy 1000 nets. At $10 each that makes a total of $10,000
Wow, you might say that’s a lot of money but think of it this way.
Between now and Christmas is around 45 days. That means if you saved 22 cents per day between now and then you would have $10 for a net.
I figure that I have about 2000 people I am connected to between facebook personal page, fan page and twitter. If only half participated we would reach the goal.
How you can help:
1. Donate: I have created a netraiser team called Fork In the Road. You can help support me by making a secure online donation. Click here to donate.
2. Forward, Retweet, Repost: Send this on to your friends in your social networks. Get them to help.. who knows we could pass 1000 nets easily.
3. Start Your Own Team: Why not start your own effort with your church, youth group, or among your social media friends. It doesn’t matter who raises the money, just that they get raised.
For more information on how YOU can participate in Nothing But Nets, please visit www.NothingButNets.net
Thanks for your support!
Tags: application, camp, CD, Christmas, Church, Click, facebook, fork In the Road, help, Malaria, Methodist Church, Mosquitos, Music, Net Raiser Team, Nothing But Nets, people, Team, twitter, Wave, work, youth
What I’m Reading-Revolution, Connection and Forgiveness.
Nov 13, 2009 Communication, Devotions and Thoughts, Media and Technology, What I'm Reading
Revolution, Connection and Forgiveness. This is what I learned from reading blogs over the past few days.
First Kem Meyer posted a video called Social Media Revolution. If you thought social media was a here today, gone tomorrow venture then think again. I have seen this video before but it is definately worth reviewing.
Second, you can tell from my change in layout that I hit a wall with my blog and needed a change. Darren Rowse talks about the Getting Over the 6th Month Blogger Itch. Its a bit of encouragement for those of you needing a little push to keep going.
Finally, a new blog I have begun reading recently is Withoutwax.tv by Pete Wilson. In this one he talks about being Fast to Forgive. When we hold on to grudges and hurts usually we are only hurting ourselves. This is a great reminder to just let go and forgive.
Tags: blogs, google reader, important, shared
Why the New Blog Layout
Nov 12, 2009 Communication, Me
If you visit forkintheroadmusic.org you will notice that the page template has changed. For a while I had used the arras theme, which I really liked as far as asthetics, however it did not work best for my site. This is for a few different reasons I think
First of all I think my idea behind my blogging has changed. When I started I wanted to be a resource center for worship leaders. I wanted to write articles about leading worship, provide backgrounds etc. It was all business though, no personal. Over the past few years I have sensed the power in being personal. I still want to provide resources, instrumental reflections, and gather thoughts from worship leaders, but that is only one part of who I am. I also love talking about family, communications, my pets, church, and my favorite chili recipe.
Second I want to become more mobile. I have found that when I have to wait until the end of the day to write a post, I generally run out of time or forget about it. However if when an idea strikes I can write it, and post it then that’s better. I can now take photos and upload thoughts directly from my phone using either the wordpress app or posterous. The new layout allows for this easier by not requiring the thumbnail images each time, and looking uniform when updated from posterous.
So what do you think? I’d love your feedback!
Tags: blog, fork In the Road, Layout
My Shared Items 11/02/09
Nov 2, 2009 Communication, Media and Technology, What I'm Reading
Each week I receive posts from over fifty different blogs. I collect and read them on Google Reader and thought you might benefit from some of the things I am reading. So here are some of my favorites from this week.
In Happy Hallow…. Harvest Festival, Michael Buckingham talks about ways to use Halloween as an opportunity, not a stumbling block. Yes I know it’s a little late, but file it for next year.
One of my favorite new blogs to follow is Michael Hyatt’s Blog. On 10/30 he shared a guest post from Margaret McSweeny on 12 Strategies for Leadership Success.
And finally TechCrunch, Pandora now offers integration with Twitter and Facebook
If you like, you can subscribe directly to my shared items on google reader.
Also if you have a blog to suggest, please put it in the comments below.
Tags: blog, blogs, facebook, Google, google reader, guest, late, Reading, Share, subscribe, twitter
Criticism and Praise
Oct 26, 2009 Communication, Devotions and Thoughts, What I'm Reading
I was reading through the google shared items of Michael Hyatt, and ran across an entry he had shared called False Praise and Distorted Criticism by Pete Wilson. Read the whole post, but I wanted to share one thing that the Pete said.
Don’t waste your time listening to false praise or distorted criticism. The praise will go straight to your head and the criticism will go directly to your heart. Both will lead you astray and both will damage the work God is doing in you and through you.
Wow, how true that is. I can point to many times in my life when false praise has blown my head up. I also look back at times where I let criticism crush me. At both points I was worrying about, or basking in what others said about me, and took my focus off of Christ and his work through me.
As Christians, we need to remember that our purpose and our worth comes from Christ.
Tags: asking, Criticism, Google, listen, praise, Reading, Share, Thoughts, work
Suggest Your Favorite Podcasts
Oct 22, 2009 Communication
I was listening to music on my iPhone the other day and I noticed that there was one category empty…. Podcasts. I really hadn’t given much thought to podcasts until I took a trip down to Houston recently. On the way down I was tired of listening to music, but there was nothing on the radio. I stopped for dinner and began to browse through the podcasts in itunes. I downloaded several and had plenty to listen to the rest of the trip down, and back up.
The ones I started with were:
Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast- I really enjoy listening to Andy’s thoughts on leadership. The only thing I do not like is that this one only comes out once per month.
All About Worship Podcast- Wisdom Moon and the guys do a great job making an entertaining podcast. It contains artist interviews, reviews and just some good fun and conversation. Great for worship leaders.
Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast- Since hearing Rob Bell at a National Youth Workers Convention many years ago I have been challenged by what he has to say. Nice to be introduced to other great preachers from time to time.
Those are the podcasts that I started listening to but I know there are other great ones out there. So let me know! What do you listen to? Which ones inspire you, challenge you, or make you laugh?
Tags: Church, iphone, listen, Music, National Youth Workers Convention, podcast, Thoughts, work, Worship, Worship Leader, youth
Worship Planning with Google Wave
Oct 14, 2009 Communication, Media and Technology, Worship Planning
I was invited to a google wave “post” or “blip” or whatever it is called, where my friend was writing a blog post, and wanted some fresh eyes to read over it. He posted his thoughts and what happened next was amazing. About ten other people started sharing thoughts, finding spelling mistakes and making corrections, giving alternate ideas and collaborating on the post.
After watching this for a few minutes I wondered if it could be used for planning worship services? What would happen if someone could start a wave with the sermon and scripture, then let people from all over comment, make song suggestions, give links to videos or tell about a skit they wrote that would fit the topic?
Well let’s find out. First let me say that I know not everyone has Google Wave, and I know this process won’t fully work until it is available everywhere, so hurry up Google! But I think there are enough to give this experiment a try.
I have created a wave for a service we are doing on November 8th. If you have wave add me to your contact list and I will invite you to the wave.
My contact is rgmmusic@googlewave.com
Tags: blog, Google, LInks, Music, people, planning, scripture, Service, song, Thoughts, video, Wave, work, Worship, Worship Planning
